Home — The Maya Centre

We’re on a mission to improve women’s mental health

Established in 1984, the Maya Centre is a community-based charity in Islington providing free, culturally sensitive counselling, group work and complementary therapies.

We support women on low incomes whose mental health has been affected by a range of experiences including depression and anxiety, violence against women and girls, inequality, discrimination and racism.

We work together to give women from different cultural and language backgrounds more voice, choice and control over their wellbeing and life decisions.

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hours of free, trauma-informed counselling offered each year

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of women report a significant improvement in their mental health after attending our counselling sessions

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of women report improved confidence and self-esteem from attending our wellbeing workshops

SERVICES

For over 30 years, our service has provided a safe women-only space in which to talk to a specialist counsellor.

Counselling

1:1 or group counselling for women, exploring difficult, painful or traumatic experiences and feelings within a safe and confidential space.

Education

Outreach group work in community languages sharing knowledge and information about women's safety and self-care.

Wellbeing

Wellbeing Workshops designed by women for women to build confidence, self-esteem and support networks.

The Maya Centre is a team of qualified and dedicated professionals with a passion for women’s mental health and wellbeing.

SUPPORT US

Mental health services are stretched to the limit right now, and women without access to mainstream therapy are struggling.

Could you help give them a lifeline?

A pair of Black female hands touch

How Emotional Emancipation Circles Promote Community and Healing for Black Women

An emotional emancipation circle (EEC) is a psychoeducational space for Black women to understand the role of cultural values specific to the Black diaspora in their emotional wellbeing and mental health. In January 2023, The Maya Centre launched a series of EECs as part of our expansion of the Black Women’s Project (BWP), which was formerly the Black Women’s Therapy Group.

International Women's Day Portrait of Multi Ethnic Mixed Age Range Women Looking Confidently towards Camera

The Irish Women’s Service

The Irish Women’s Service (formerly the Irish Women’s Project) is a specialist mental health initiative that helps Irish women and women of Irish descent to explore issues relating to their culture and heritage. As our longest-running specialist service, this support includes those from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

An interracial lesbian couple featuring a Black woman and and East Asian woman sit outdoors in the park. They are cuddling and smiling.

How The Maya Centre Supports LGBTQ+ women

The Maya Centre offers a supportive presence for queer women in the Islington community and surrounding boroughs who may be experiencing or have experienced trauma relating to their sexual identity — whether this be from cultural and social stigmas, personal isolation, violent discrimination, or another barrier.

TESTIMONIALS

“I was able to talk without judgement, my therapist helped me to recognise my feelings and identify with past issues that were impacting my current behaviour in a negative way.”

“I feel safe here, I feel listened to, I feel understood, I feel like I’m working on myself and progressing in my life, I’m really grateful for all that.”

"The easy access and the self-referral option were really good. I sense a very welcoming attitude and there was an option to speak my mother tongue. It helped me to gain a different perspective to the issues that I am struggling with’’

"The counselling hasn’t just been helpful, it has changed my life and I am so incredibly grateful that I was given this opportunity. I am a new person. I understand myself and others."

"I feel strong and confident, but genuinely from within the inside instead of ‘trying’ to be strong. I know who I am now, and I like that person."

"I found a version of myself that I find more comfortable and confident being and learned about boundaries and ways to deal with people in a way that makes life easier and calmer."

"I feel calmer and in control of my life in a way that has not only had a positive effect on me but has also had a positive knock-on effect on the people who are closest to me in my life."

The Maya Centre is a community-based charity set up in 1984 to provide specialist counselling and holistic support to low-income and minoritised women.

Accredited Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

Registered Charity No. 1012889

Company No. 02701313

Copyright © 2023 The Maya Centre